Ditching-machine.



No. 776,125. IPA'IENTED NOV. 29, 190% J. W. BUTTON.

DITOHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED man. 6. 1904.

N0 MODEL. zsHEETs-sHBm 1. V

tgfi w WLLMWM a No. 776.125. PATENTED NOV. 29. 190.4

J. W. BUTTON.

BITUHING MACHINE.

APELTUATION FILED SEPT. 13. 1904.

NO MODEL.

2 SHEETSS11EET2.

W Z Z W Patented November 29, 1904.-

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WARREN DUTTON, OF lDUTTONS LANDING, CALIFORNIA.

DITCHING-MACHINE,

SPECIFICATION forming" part of Letters Patent No. 776,125, dated November 29, 1904.-

Application filed September 6, 1904. Serial No. 223.490. (No model.

To all whom it may concern:

new and useful Improvements in Ditching-Ma-l I chines; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to dredging or ditching machinery and to certain useful improve-' ments: therein, as hereinafter described, and illustrated by drawings that form a partof this specification.

My improvements consist especially in a sectional construction of the boats or pontoons on Which'the ditching machinery is supported and in dividing these longitudinally into separable parts in proportion to the width of the ditches to be cut and for other objects. I

The objects of my invention are to provide ditching apparatus that can be employed in a narrow as Well as a wide ditch and can be conveniently moved from place to place when there are not waterways and of such construction that it may be conveniently segre gated for transportation at sea, on land, across ditches or embankments, which often becomes necessary in such machinery.

To these ends I construct ditching apparatus, as shown in the drawings, Figure I be ing a side elevation of a ditching-machine constructed according to my invention. Fig. II an end view of Fig. I, partiallyin section, showing the machinery in the position of the charging spoil. Fig. III is an end View, partially in section, of the separable pontoons on which the machinery is sustained and moved.

In the reclamation of alluvial and fluvial lands ditches for draining purposes take to a across other ditches and embankments already made. In such cases transportation of the operating machinery is easily accomplished because of its segregated construction; but

the suppoi'tingpontoons, as commonly constructed, OIIBI an almost insuperable impediment to such transport because of their dimensions and weight. To avoid this latternamed impediment, I construct the pontoons in separable sections, as shown in the CIIZLW": ings now to be referred to.

The gallows or derrick frame 1, derrick 2, spars 3, spoil-bucket 4t, and winding-gearing 5 not forming a part of my present invention and being in part set forth in my copending application, Serial No. 211,020, for improve ment in ditching machinery, do not require description here.

sections 7, 8, and 9 are each and severally, as

required, fastened to the base of the derrickland the derriclcframing 1 is taken down and the pontoons 7, 8, and 9 are separated, so as to be loaded on trucks or railway-cars. The

same conditions apply in moving the machinery from one farm or district to another when there are not waterways between them, and when ditches, embankmcnts, or other obstructions are to be crossed the pontoons are moved separately on trucks or rollers one at a time.

In cutting ditches too narrow to receive all of the pontoons I, 8, and 9, I and 8, or 7 and 9 are combined, and when those combinations exceed thewidth of the ditch the section 8 alone is employed, as shown in Fig. II.

To secure the required transverse stability for handling the derrick and bucket when the pairs or a single section of the pontoons is in use, supporting-rails 1d are laid along the banks 15 of the ditch 17 so the base-timbers.

1. In a ditching-machine, comprising apparatus to excavate and raise the spoil, a pontoon to sustain and move this apparatus, composed of separable sections that can be combined to form different widths corresponding to the width of the ditches to be cut, substantially in the manner specified.

2. In a ditching-machine, having a gallowsframe and apparatus to excavateand raise the spoil, a sectional pontoon to sustain and move the ditching apparatus, separable into sections, in the manner described, and bearingrails disposed alongside the ditch on which the gallows-frame can bear at the sides, substantially as specified. v

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN WARREN DUTTON.

Witnesses: ELMER WIGKES, GEO. JOHNSTON. 

